


The Father I Should Be

by skargasm



Series: Taming the Muse [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out, Stilinski Family Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-29
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-27 01:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1710131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skargasm/pseuds/skargasm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sheriff Stilinski finds out what his son has been up to...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Father I Should Be

I have never been the type of parent to spy on my kid. I mean, before I lost my wife, the three of us were damned near inseparable. When she became ill—when they took her into hospital to die and I realised there was absolutely nothing I could do save her—it was the three of us together, day in and day out, in that hospital room. I had to work—sometimes I needed to get away from the inevitability of her death and it was easy to throw myself into the petty burglaries and domestics that constituted what Beacon Hills crime used to be. That was why Stiles was alone with her when she died—I had run away. 

Even worse, when she was actually gone—when I couldn’t even visit her, or sit at her bedside and simply hold her hand and breathe in her presence—I hid in a bottle. I would have stayed in there too if it wasn’t for the kid. He was incredible—this bundle of energy and fizz, showing up everywhere I was, desperately trying to hold our family together. He—there aren’t words for how guilty I feel that he had to do that. That he lost his mother and had to handle almost losing his dad too. 

So, yeah, Stiles has always been worthy of respect from me, in spite of the shenanigans he and Scott would get up to and the near constant Parent-Teacher conferences that went on and on about how with a little focus the kid could take over the world. 

But I digress. That’s why I would never spy on him because I wanted him to come to me. I knew something was going on—some days, it looked like he hadn’t had any sleep at all; Scott was….well, strange or maybe just _stranger_ than normal and combined with a wave of animal attacks and murders all over the place, there was obviously _something_ going on. Stiles was at pretty much every murder scene, involved in every strange occurrence. I admit it, there were a couple of times that I wondered if he had fallen into drugs or something. 

Which brings me to Derek Hale. A more likely bad influence/drug dealer I have never seen in my life. The last time I saw that kid he was a teenager, smelling of smoke, holding back tears while he stood in front of what used to be his family home with his only surviving relative clinging to his hand. To see him back in town—to see what he had grown up into—was kinda scary. He was all dark looks and almost menace. I say almost menace because he had the softest voice, and the more I investigated, the more I realised that whatever it looked like, the boy—I can’t call him a man because it seems to me his growth stopped that day of the fire—was as much a victim as anyone else.

So, Stiles has disappeared yet again and I was worried sick that he had gone like that Erica Reyes girl and Vernon Boyd. I was petrified and I went a step too far. Broke into his computer—Stiles might be good but the department had the odd computer savvy contact too—and went through his files. And found his journal. 

The last few months—I am speechless. Werewolves and hunters, murderers from prominent local families, bestiaries. If the stuff he had written down didn’t make so much sense, I would be locking the kid up in Eichen House. So what do I do now? My kid is mixed up in a supernatural, violent world and damned near every entry in his journal speaks about trying to protect me. Me. I’m supposed to be looking out for him and he just keeps going on about keeping people safe. If I wasn’t so damned proud of him, I’d lock him up and throw away the damned key.

I’m sat at the kitchen table, glass of whiskey in hand, waiting for him. I know he’s on his way—Melissa just called and let me know that Scott just got home, that Stiles dropped him off. So less than five minutes. What should I say? Do I admit what I did? Do I try to get him to leave Beacon Hills so he can be safe? What the hell is a father supposed to do in circumstances like this? What would Claudia want me to do? I look up as the door opens and get to see him before he sees me for a change. He looks older—weary. But he also looks stronger than I really imagined he was. Wiser based on a lot of the stuff I read. His eyes meet mine and I can almost see his hyperactive brain trying to come up for an explanation for the blood-stained baseball bat in his hand. Hiding the patrol cruiser meant he didn’t realise I was home. I didn’t even realise I was stood up until I’m halfway across the room, arms spread wide. It breaks my heart to hear his voice crack—he sounds so young for a moment.

“Dad, I—“

“Stiles. You don’t have to explain. I’m here for you kiddo—you’re not doing this alone anymore.”

I hold him close, determined to be there for him through this the way he has always been there for me.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Been a really rough week, so I needed some Stilinski family feels. Trying a different style of writing using first person so I hope it works.
> 
> * * *


End file.
